(April 13, 2024 at 10:05 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: When they weren't suffering shell hunger they engineered what the russians called an artillery genocide.  At best, the russians have a 2-1 numerical advantage in artillery pieces, assuming everything russia has listed actually exists and is functional.  It started out worse, the russians numerical advantage hasn't worked out for them.

The us isn't actually the key piece on this one, because most of their arty, 2/3rds or 3/4s I can't recall offhand, is soviet standard.  We don't have that stuff.  We don't make that stuff.  We don't use that stuff.  We play war daddy, going around the world buying it up...but people have been telling us no.  What they need from us are patriots and short range air defense...which won't help with the arty situation, but it would put a damper on the terror attacks and give ukrainian mechanized forces a way to advance in the face of k series helicopters.

(April 17, 2024 at 10:10 am)Leonardo17 Wrote: Still the US artillery shell stockpile seem to be in the 400 million or more.
 
So the US should be able to send more artillery shells without any fear of running out of shells like most European countries.

(April 20, 2024 at 11:13 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: Our main issue from a supply standpoint is that it's taken about 50 years to make 10k patriot missiles and anyone who currently has them is clutching them like the last lifejacket on a sinking ship.  The production chain for just the rockets is complicated and distributed - and the rocket is only one part of the system.  There's no easy way for all of those companies to scale outside of direct government subsidy.  At the final assembly end we rely on just a couple factories - I believe they're looking to increase the seekers in huntsville by 30%?  Hopefully no disruptions based on the parent companies woes will impact production (hello boeing) but the idea is to make about 200 more missiles a month.  Some of that is an army contract, some of it is part of the aid bill, and some of it is internal investment by lockheed because..as they put it.... "we see a demand out there".

(April 20, 2024 at 1:03 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

(April 20, 2024 at 11:13 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: Our main issue from a supply standpoint is that it's taken about 50 years to make 10k patriot missiles and anyone who currently has them is clutching them like the last lifejacket on a sinking ship.  The production chain for just the rockets is complicated and distributed - and the rocket is only one part of the system.  There's no easy way for all of those companies to scale outside of direct government subsidy.  At the final assembly end we rely on just a couple factories - I believe they're looking to increase the seekers in huntsville by 30%?  Hopefully no disruptions based on the parent companies woes will impact production (hello boeing) but the idea is to make about 200 more missiles a month.  Some of that is an army contract, some of it is part of the aid bill, and some of it is internal investment by lockheed because..as they put it.... "we see a demand out there".

I seem to remember Raytheon talking about opening up another factory so that they can relocate Stinger production to it and use the freed-up storage space to launch another Patriot line.

Of course, at my age, "I seem to remember" is a significant qualifier.

The conservatives in Congress who oppose our aiding Ukraine forget that not only is 80% of that aid being spent here in America, it is helping keep our defense-industrial base healthy. No wonder the Putin wing of the Republicans want to snuff out aid.

Quote:Former Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) went after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for her anti-Ukraine position in an interview on CNN Friday.

“Moscow Marjorie has reached a new low,” Buck said in an interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” with anchor Erica Hill. “You know, during the Russian Revolution, [Bolshevik Revolution leader Vladimir] Lenin talked about American journalists who were writing glowing reports about Russia at the time as ‘useful idiots.’”

“And I don’t even think that Marjorie reaches that level of being a useful idiot here,” Buck continued. “She is just mouthing the Russian propaganda, and really hurting American foreign policy in the process.”

During a House Oversight Committee meeting Wednesday, Greene noted news stories and displayed photos she said showed neo-Nazis in Ukraine. She brought up her concern over how it is seen as misinformation to discuss “the Nazis in Ukraine and their recruitment efforts that go all around the world.”

(April 20, 2024 at 1:44 pm)arewethereyet Wrote: Side note - Aron Ra worked at the local Raytheon till he retired to become a full time atheist speaker.